" I would like to live in the same soil as my ancestors, and walk under their trees, and do what they did, and think their thoughts. " - Elizabeth Lawrence. After 4 decades in Sweet Home Chicago I moved to North Carolina where my first Irish ancestor landed in the early 1700's. I'm an artist, garden designer and grandma blogging about my life in this " Southern part of Heaven " as Chapel HIll is called.

Wednesday, November 30, 2016

November

Yet one smile more, departing, distant sun!
One mellow smile through the soft vapory air,
Ere, o’er the frozen earth, the loud winds run,
Or snows are sifted o’er the meadows bare.
One smile on the brown hills and naked trees,
And the dark rocks whose summer wreaths are cast,
And the blue gentian flower, that, in the breeze,
Nods lonely, of her beauteous race the last.
Yet a few sunny days, in which the bee
Shall murmur by the hedge that skirts the way,
The cricket chirp upon the russet lea,
And man delight to linger in thy ray.
Yet one rich smile, and we will try to bear
The piercing winter frost, and winds, and darkened air.

We had a most unusually warm November which made me very happy and allowed me to escape the malaise of the presidential election that has gripped our country. Now that the election is over I look to the supreme leader of us all - our Lord and Savior who will rule over not only our nation but the world.

Another thing to be grateful and happy for was the first visit of my son Jason . I'm not bragging but I think he's about the youngest 44 year old you'll ever see ! He loved our home and garden.

Jason and Cecile enjoying Momma's special Southern Fried Chicken and all the trimmings.

Meanwhile I turned my attention to the Fall/winter garden that I planted last month. The cabbage, broccoli-kale , parsley, and strawberries are doing well. We have had 3 hard freezes that they've survived but I'm preparing for really cold snaps. I've added a layer of shredded leaves topped with compost and will install a hoop greenhouse later on.

The roadside garden looked really good this season and I've added more bee and butterfly friendly plants.

Tuesday, November 1, 2016

"If it is true that one of the greatest pleasures of gardening lies in looking forward, then the planning of next year's beds and borders must be one of the most agreeable occupations in the gardener's calendar. This should make October and November particularly pleasant months, for then we may begin to clear our borders, to cut down those sodden and untidy stalks, to dig up and increase our plants, and to move them to other positions where they will show up to greater effect. People who are not gardeners always say that the bare beds of winter are uninteresting; gardeners know better, and take even a certain pleasure in the neatness of the newly dug, bare, brown earth."- Vita Sackville-West I used to dread November in my Chicago home and garden because it meant the ending of the gardening season. But here in the sunny South November can be and often is a delightful sunny season with many plants still blooming . Aster, Mums, Lantana, coreopsis, zinnias, marigolds, sweet william, goldenrod, and sages, to name a few, still show their colorful faces.

The days grow shorter and cooler and there is more time to relax and enjoy the wonderful month of November.

I have added a hundred daffodils to the beds so I can enjoy their colorful cheerful faces in April.

The Lantana still blooms and attracts the last of the swallowtails. November in North Carolina is now delightful and slowly ushers in the end of the growing season.